BirSaNN

The free-to-play King Of Fighters game will rely on blockchain integration for its monetization. King of Fighters Arena, a new real-time PVP mobile game in the long-running fighting game franchise, has now opened up pre-registration on iOS and Android. Developer Netmarble has also launched the game's official site, providing more information on the game, including a development roadmap, playable characters, and plans for blockchain monetization. Described as a follow up to its mobile RPG King of Fighters Allstar, the new game is an action PVP game that allows players to battle each other in real time. The developer has promised to make all King of Fighters characters playable, with 37 characters available for free at launch. Netmarble hasn't said whether any characters that may be added in subsequent updates will also be available for free, but has said the roster will continue to "grow through special collaborations and events." As a free-to-play game, King of Fighters Arena appears to be basing its money around blockchain integration, including its own token called Fighters Club Token, and an NFT market based around "Fighters Cards." Players will be able to trade the regular in-game currency for FCT if they choose to engage in the game's blockchain economy, though KOF Arena's timing is less than ideal with the crypto market currently in a downturn. Pre-registration is available now on the Apple Store and Google Play, with players who pre-register unlocking limited edition cosmetic rewards including the "Fighter Illust Collection and Fighter Background Collection to adorn and represent your fighter, [and] a Limited version of Special Title and Title Panel." Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pre-registration-is-now-open-for-mobile-game-king-of-fighters-arena/1100-6507900/

Form cooperative space agencies with your friends, or compete in a race to the stars. In an interview for the PC Gaming Show 2023 Preview, Kerbal Space Program 2 creative director Nate Simpson offered us the first details on how multiplayer will work in the sequel. It's still a long ways off—KSP2 has a list of major features to add during early access first—but when multiplayer does finally arrive, it won't just be cooperative. Kerbal Space Program's going to get cutthroat. OK, not really—but it will have some form of competition, harking back to the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. "Multiplayer introduces the concept of agencies, so you can work alongside friends within a single agency contributing to a single space program in a way that's cooperative," Simpson says. You can also play competitively between agencies, each of which is located at a different location on Kerbin. With multi-agency play you can have space races. We're excited to see all the new types of gameplay that emerge from multiplayer." There's a lot we still don't know here: how many players can be in multiplayer, for starters, and whether we'll be able to play simultaneously with friends in an online session, or if KSP2 will be a more passive multiplayer experience. I'd love to be able to sync up with a friend and race rovers over the surface of a new planet, but I can imagine Kerbal's complex physics simulations and time dilation being a nightmare to synchronize. Will we be able to literally launch rockets simultaneously and race to the Mun? Will an online game instance be exclusive to friends we choose to play with, or will we be able to create open online worlds that pull in colonies and vehicles from other random players? It's tantalizing to speculate, but it sounds like Kerbal forum member Vl3d—who wrote a post in April that envisioned KSP 2 multiplayer as "a competitive space-race team-based persistent-world MMO with inter-agency contracts and trade"—may be getting their dream for "the greatest game ever made." Now all we need is a perfectly coiffed kerbal version of JFK to deliver the "We choose to go to the moon Mun" speech, and we'll be ready to race. Kerbal Space Program 2 will touch down in Early Access on February 24, 2023. Wes has been covering games and hardware for more than 10 years, first at tech sites like The Wirecutter(opens in new tab) and Tested(opens in new tab) before joining the PC Gamer team in 2014. Wes plays a little bit of everything, but he'll always jump at the chance to cover emulation and Japanese games. When he's not obsessively optimizing and re-optimizing a tangle of conveyor belts in Satisfactory (it's really becoming a problem), he's probably playing a 20-year-old Final Fantasy or some opaque ASCII roguelike. With a focus on writing and editing features, he seeks out personal stories and in-depth histories from the corners of PC gaming and its niche communities. 50% pizza by volume (deep dish, to be specific). link: https://www.pcgamer.com/kerbal-space-program-2-is-going-to-let-you-have-competitive-multiplayer-space-races/

• Name: @BirSaNN • Time & Date: 02:30 • Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/kd7pYlS

Rabat- Moroccan international footballer Achraf Hakimi promised that the Atlas Lions will do their best during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. “We are young people with ambition, and we want to do great things together and do our best for our country,” Hakimi said. The Paris-Saint Germain (PSG) key player explained that the Moroccan national team is now setting an objective to pass the first round and “then move forward step by step.” Commenting on his participation in the World Cup along with the Atlas Lions, Hakimi said that this moment carries “a special feeling always.” “This year, after my participation in Russia, I am going with the responsibility to represent the hopes of many people. I am very thirsty and ambitious after having experienced the first World Cup,” he stated. In addition to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Hakimi was among the lineup that traveled to Russia to participate in the 2018 World Cup. Hakimi gained po[CENSORED]rity thanks to his high speed and impressive performances he made for other football clubs and PSG. Born in Madrid to a Moroccan couple, the football player began his senior professional career with football club Real Madrid in 2016. Hakimi also played for Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan before moving to PSG. The World Cup draw placed Morocco in Group F with Croatia, Belgium, and Canada. Morocco’s squad will play against Croatia on November 23, while the match against Belgium will take place on November 27. December 1 will mark Morocco’s final match in the group stage against Canada. Prior to the World Cup, Morocco will play against Georgia on Thursday as part of the team’s preparations ahead of the world tournament. The match will take place in the UAE. Tuesday marked the first preparatory training session for the Atlas Lions. Read Also: Group F: Morocco’s Fixtures at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 © Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. link: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/11/352440/moroccos-achraf-hakimi-we-will-do-our-best-in-qatar-world-cup

Jeremy Hunt says tax rises and spending cuts in the Autumn Statement are required to grip inflation and repair the public finances. It's a contrast to both the Covid-era spending injections under Boris Johnson, and the now-reversed tax-cutting approach of Liz Truss. Now the message is: taxes are going up, and public spending squeezes are coming. From where I sat in the House of Commons watching the chancellor unfold his plans, Conservative MPs were pretty muted, but generally supportive. Tax rises With some personal tax thresholds frozen, millions of individuals are set to pay more tax. That's something which is concerning some Tory MPs, particularly those on the right of the party who previously advocated tax cuts. Former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg has told the BBC he was particularly concerned about tax rises during a recession. Fellow Tory MP Esther McVey has said putting taxes up was the "last thing" a Tory government should be doing. Votes on tax changes and Budgets are usually seen as a de facto "vote of confidence" - or test of loyalty - in the government itself. So, we shouldn't overegg the impact some of this unease may have on the government's plans. It's unlikely many, if any, Tory MPs would vote against the government's plans as they could risk losing their place in the parliamentary party as a result. But some may become more vocal about this. With cuts to tax-free allowances on things like dividends from shares too, one Tory MP told the BBC they were "really disturbed" that "prudent people who have saved and put money to one side will face additional taxes on their savings and investments". There may not be heaps of sympathy among the general public for more top earners having to pay the top rate of tax. But it's only a few months ago that some Tory MPs wanted to scrap the top rate of tax for the highest earners completely. Politically, not everyone in the party agrees with that decision. Labour is trying to draw clear dividing lines between themselves and the Tories on tax too - arguing they would scrap non-dom tax status and not lift the bankers' bonuses cap, or exempt private schools from VAT. Conservative think tank Bright Blue also argues the government "missed an opportunity" to move more tax from work and on to wealth by taxing profits from selling assets, inheritance and non-dom individuals more. Council tax Another squeeze that some people in England could start to see is a rise in their council tax bills. Councils in England can now raise council tax up to 5% a year without a vote. Some Tory MPs, including Bob Blackman MP, have expressed concern this could make local elections tricky for the party. Others in the party have raised concerns that it could be another blow for households struggling with rising prices and taxes. Tory MP Jonathan Gullis said he was "sure many local authorities will see this as the government passing the buck". "It is a very blunt way to try and raise money for councils across the country, and I fear it won't actually plug the gaps many of them face. "Councils in areas like Stoke-on-Trent are simply going to need more help from government." Energy support One former cabinet minister who served under Liz Truss told us they were concerned about the impact these plans would have on the "squeezed middle". This is largely because there will be further targeting of cost of living and energy support towards the most vulnerable. The government argue this is the approach that is "compassionate" but responsible. But the former minister says there are some MPs concerned that some people who do not qualify for extra support because they are a pensioner, on benefits or disabled may still feel a squeeze from rising taxes - and energy bills from April - while prices are still very high. Housing One issue bubbling for the Conservatives is on housing. Labour are hammering the line "Tory mortgage premium" to reference how interest rates have gone up following Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-budget. link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-63670675

Cows fed hemp, which is not yet an approved animal feed, behaved strangely and produced milk with THC. The dairy cows wobbled unsteadily on their hooves, their tongues lolled about and the membranes of their eyes reddened. What triggered these odd symptoms? A diet of industrial hemp, researchers say. The cannabis-derived product didn't give cows the munchies — in fact, the cows decreased their overall food intake. In turn, they produced less milk, but the milk they did yield contained detectable levels of both delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary high-inducing compound in marijuana, and cannabidiol (CBD), which exerts some effects on the body but isn't psychoactive. Hemp is not yet an acceptable animal feed additive in the U.S. or Europe, in part due to concerns that the plants' active compounds will find their way into milk, senior author Robert Pieper(opens in new tab), temporary co-head of the Safety in the Food Chain department at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, told Live Science in an email. But as the hemp and CBD industries have grown, stakeholders and regulators have theoretically considered using hemp as animal feed, citing its cheapness and nutritional value, Science reported(opens in new tab). However, there's not yet enough research to approve the plant for such use. In a new study, published Monday (Nov. 14) in the journal Nature Food(opens in new tab), Pieper and his colleagues found that cannabinoids can slip into the milk of hemp-fed cows, but the risk this could pose to consumers remains unclear. To evaluate the effects of hemp on dairy cows and their milk, researchers fed 10 lactating dairy cows feed containing hemp with different concentrations of cannabinoids, meaning cannabis-derived compounds with drug-like effects. Hemp and marijuana come from the same plant species — Cannabis sativa — but by definition, hemp contains no more than 0.3% THC, while marijuana carries higher concentrations, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(opens in new tab) (FDA). In the first week of the trial, researchers swapped some of the cows' corn-based feed for hemp feed made from whole C. sativa plants, which contained low doses of cannabinoids. Then, for the next six days, they fed the cows a high-cannabinoid hemp feed made from flowers, leaves and seeds of the plants. The whole-plant feed had no effect on the cows' health or behavior. But within hours of switching to the flower feed, the bovines' breathing and heart rates fell unusually low. These are "rare symptoms in cows that only occur in the course of serious illnesses or can be pharmacologically induced," the researchers noted. link: https://www.livescience.com/cows-act-stoned-on-hemp

At the L.A. auto show, the automakers revealed programs to help people get electric-car charging systems set up at home. Hyundai Home is a new online service the automaker is providing to electric-vehicle customers to help them find local contractors to install EV home chargers, solar panels, and maybe a home battery. Nissan also announced EV Carefree+ at the L.A. auto show. This is a collection of services including free public charging and roadside assistance to reduce anxiety in new EV drivers. Automakers have been experimenting with different ways of encouraging EV adoption with projects like this. GM, for example, will pay to have L2 home chargers installed when someone buys a new Bolt, and many automakers work with Qmerit to find reliable local contractors. Hyundai is working on making it easier for car buyers to choose a plug-in vehicle with a new program called Hyundai Home. The new website, which was announced today at the Los Angeles auto show, acts like an intermediary between someone who just purchased a new Hyundai EV and the boring nuts and bolts of getting a home charger permitted and installed and maybe filing for some local government or utility incentives. The Hyundai Home Marketplace uses your home address to find EV-related services available there. In my case, I was able to see options for rooftop solar and home battery storage, but the EV home charger section was not yet operational. Requesting information about rooftop solar brings up a personalized but auto-generated estimate of the lifetime savings of installing solar panels. The home energy storage tab works similarly, providing an estimate of how much it would cost you to install enough batteries to power your home for a week. All of these estimates get refined by an actual installer or contractor once you complete the forms on the website, and the marketplace ends up providing customers with three bids for each project they might be interested in. Hyundai Home also offers human Energy Advisors who can answer questions about the technologies involved. Hyundai first announced the Hyundai Home project at the 2021 L.A. show and has partnered with Electrum to make it operational. The site currently works in 16 states, but nationwide operation is "coming soon." Other Companies at Work on EV Logistics Hyundai has company when it comes to offering EV shoppers help getting set up for home charging. GM will cover the installation of Level 2 charging outlet for new Bolt EV or Bolt EUV customers, for example, and works with Qmerit to find verified installers. Automakers including Audi, BMW, and Cadillac all work with Qmerit to find local electricians for their customers, and Qmerit also offers home charger installation help for people who didn't just buy their EV at a dealership. Another new EV benefits program was announced alongside the Hyundai House at the L.A. show. Nissan announced a "care initiative" called EV Carefree+ that will provide EV transition assistance to Ariya and Leaf buyers, as well as customers of future Nissan electric vehicles. EV Carefree+ is the branded name for some services Nissan was already offering, like an eight-year/100,000-mile battery warranty and roadside assistance, along with some complimentary public charging with EVgo and included scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles. Nissan also partners with Qmerit for home charger installations. link: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a41994350/hyundai-nissan-ev-ownership-charging-systems/

She’s got reservations about Scottish independence; he would vote yes again. But can they agree on Westminster? Sam Wollaston Sam Wollaston @samwollaston Thu 17 Nov 2022 12.30 GMT Eleanor, 27, Edinburgh Occupation Neuroscientist Voting record Labour and Green. And remain in the EU referendum Amuse bouche Eleanor enjoys caving: “It’s an opportunity to go somewhere no one has been before” Paul, 54, Edinburgh Occupation Marketing manager for a financial services company Voting record SNP, yes in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, remain in the EU referendum Amuse bouche Paul is a metalhead, started going to gigs in the mid-1980s and still likes nothing more than smashing it up in the pit For starters Eleanor Paul has a strong sense of national identity. He’s lived in Scotland his whole life. My mum’s Irish, my dad was born in Malta and my childhood was spent moving around the UK. I have a more scattered sense of identity. Paul I thought: are they going to send a screaming unionist? It’s difficult with something binary like independence. But Eleanor had specific points – she wanted to see a white paper on what they are proposing. The big beef Eleanor I have concerns about science and healthcare. Independence would disqualify a lot of Scottish scientists from many of the funding options they currently use. With Brexit, we saw the collapse of grants and people lost their jobs. Science works best within an environment that encourages fluidity and dynamism – putting up barriers against that seems a shame. My concerns for the NHS are to do with the fact that if you are in Scotland and need treatment for, say, glioblastoma, you go to Manchester for proton beam therapy. How does that work after independence? Paul I accept there are risks. For me, it’s primarily emotional. I see myself as Scottish. I don’t see Scotland having its place on the world stage. No country in the world has a Scottish consul, and Scotland is not represented in any of the big world conversations, only as part of the UK. I am uncomfortable with some of the positioning within the independence debate – the anti-English sentiment. Independence could dilute that: we will no longer be able to point the finger at England and say it’s all their fault. Eleanor We talked about the EU and its accession criteria, and he was saying: “Yeah, we’re looking at the best part of a decade for that to happen.” Paul I’d like to get back into the EU, but recognise it’s a long haul. And I accept that if we have another referendum on independence and the result is no, then that is properly it for a generation. link: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/nov/17/dining-across-the-divide-paul-eleanor

Nancy Pelosi will still be in Congress for another term, representing her San Francisco congressional district, but she says the new generation that will succeed her in the leadership of House Democrats doesn't need to worry about her meddling in their business. "Thanksgiving's coming," she replied when asked what advice she would be giving her successor. "I have no intention of being a mother-in-law in the kitchen saying, 'My son doesn't like stuffing that way; this is the way we make it in our family.' "They will have their vision; they will have their plan." Pelosi sat down to talk with a small group of reporters Thursday moments after standing in the well of the House and announcing that, after two decades in the leadership, she would not be running for that role when the Democratic caucus convenes Nov. 30. She had declared the end of an era, of the time when the first woman elected speaker of the House became arguably the most disciplined, most consequential legislative leader in modern times. But she was breezy and animated when she entered the ornate hideaway off the House floor known as the Board of Education, a name from the days it was the site of after-hours poker games convened by Speaker Sam Rayburn with Vice President Harry Truman and others. "I just came for the chocolate chip cookies," she proclaimed, plucking a treat from the plate on the table but then struggling so mightily with the sealed plastic wrapping that Carl Hulse of The New York Times finally wrestled it open for her. How was she feeling? Pelosi isn't a woman given to introspection, at least not in public. "I feel balanced about it all," she said finally. "I'm not sad at all." There were some things she wouldn't miss, she added. "I mean, I had to raise a million dollars a day. A day! Well, at least five days a week." link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/11/17/pelosi-house-democrats-speaker-future/10719286002/

Accepted! Good luck bro

Samsung Galaxy A14 5G is said to support Bluetooth v5.2. Samsung Galaxy A14 5G has made its appearance on the Geekbench listing with the model number SM-A146B. The listing hints at an octa-core processor, a Mali G68 GPU, and 4GB of RAM for the upcoming smartphone. The upcoming A-series handset from Samsung was also spotted on the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) database. The listing had indicated that the Galaxy A14 5G may launch soon. The handset from the South Korean company is said to support Bluetooth v5.2 and is expected to be the successor of the Samsung Galaxy A13 5G. The Galaxy A14 5G from Samsung has made its appearance on the benchmarking website Geekbench. The smartphone has scored 770 points in the single-core test and 2151 points in the multi-core test. The Geekbench listing also indicated that the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G will come with an octa-core processor, a Mali G68 GPU, and 4GB of RAM. As mentioned, the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G was earlier spotted on the BIS database. According to the listing, the upcoming handset carries model numbers SM-A146U, SM-A146VL, SM-A146W, SM-A146U, SM-A146U1/DS, SM-A146P, SM-A146P/N, SM-A146P/DSN. The smartphone is also expected to launch soon and comes with Bluetooth v5.2 connectivity. Meanwhile, the design and case renders of the handset were also leaked. The Galaxy A14 5G could sport a flat frame design that is similar to the Galaxy S22 series. The case renders of the smartphone also suggested three circular cutouts for the camera sensors, next to which is an LED flash module. The power button of the handset has been hinted to sport a fingerprint scanner. The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G could also feature a water-drop notch for the selfie camera on the front. The handset is said to sport a 6.8-inch full-HD+ LCD display and is expected to measure 167.7 x 78.7 x 9.3mm. link: https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/news/samsung-a14-5g-a13-geekbench-listing-specifications-features-galaxy-3530230

China's first proper gaming graphics card, the MTT S80 from Moore Threads, has been tested across various games by Expreview. China's First Gaming GPU, Moore Threads MTT S80, Benchmarked In Games: Good For eSports But Lacks Driver Support & Loses To An RTX 3060 The Moore Threads MTT S80 is purely focused on gamers. It features 4096 MUSA streaming cores and runs at 1.8 GHz, providing users with 14.4 TFLOPs of compute performance. While gaming is its focus, the graphics card can also be used for 3D rendering and AI processing. The graphics card comes with a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, offering up to 128 GB/s of bandwidth. The card is also equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. As for the display outputs, the graphics card features 3 DisplayPort 1.4a and a single HDMI 2.1 port Moore Threads is really betting on the gaming prowess of its MTT S80 graphics card and will be offering its latest PES (Perfect Experience System) control center that allows users to control and customize various functions of their graphics cards while easily receiving the latest driver updates. The Moore Threads MTT S80 is the follow-up to the MTT S60 which was launched earlier this year & was an entry-level GPU with 6 TFLOPs of performance and 8 GB of LPDDR4X memory on board. It's more than double the boost in compute performance alone and will support more modern games and APIs (DirectX, Vulkan, OpenGL, OpenGL ES). Moore Threads state that this is the first and only GPU in China that supports the DirectX API which will definitely be a huge deal for the domestic gaming segment. The company has also worked with Unreal and Unity to bring more next-gen AAA experiences and optimize the engines for their graphics cards. Moore Threads MTT S80 Graphics Card Overview The Moore Threads MTT S80 reference design comes in a triple-fan and dual-slot design which features four display outputs that include three DP 1.4a and a single HDMI 2.1 output. The card comes with a single 8-pin power connector but this is no standard 8-pin connector. The MTT S80 uses an EPS 12V 8pin connector which is the same as the one used by CPUs and can deliver up to 300 Watts of power. There's an adapter that ships with the card and requires two standard PCIe 8-pin plugs to boot. The card has a 255W TGP so one of these connectors is more than enough to power it. The fans include two 80mm and one 70mm design with 11 blades and the card itself is measured at 286 x 111 x 49mm. link: https://wccftech.com/moore-threads-mtt-s80-graphics-card-benchmarked-china-first-gaming-gpu-offers-over-100-fps-at-4k-but-loses-to-rtx-3060/

Today, Apple has officially launched its all-new iCloud.com website with a new design. The website is now live after several weeks of beta testing. Overall, the site now looks way more colorful and easy to use with tiles and information at a glance. Scroll down to see the new design. Redesigned iCloud.com Website Shows a Familiar Design With Easy To Navigate Options and Information at a Glance As mentioned earlier, Apple's new iCloud.com website redesign was in the works for a while. Now, you can simply head over to the website and sign in with your Apple ID and password and check it out for yourself. The new design comes with tiles for your Apple ID account and apps like Photos, Mail, iCloud Drive, Calendar, and Notes. Additionally, you will also find tiles for Find My and productivity apps such as Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. Other than this, you also have the option available to customize the page. You can do it by adding or dropping the apps on the main page. Moreover, you can also remove the tile altogether if you do not need it. At the bottom of the iCloud website, you can see your iCloud storage plan along with its usage. If you want to recover deleted items, there is also a link to help you restore files from iCloud Drive as well as other apps. Additionally, you have the option available to create a new email, note, calendar event, and much more by tapping the plus sign in the top menu bar. The same menu also offers settings for iCloud+ features such as Hide My Email, iCloud Private Relay, HomeKit Secure Video, and more. Generally, the new iCloud.com interface is more streamlined and familiar with easy-to-navigate options and information at a single glance. This is all there is to it, folks. How did you like the new iCloud website? Share your experience with us in the comments. link: https://wccftech.com/apple-launches-redesigned-icloud-com-website-with-a-tiles-more/

Music Title: Music Mix 2022 🎧 EDM Remixes of Po[CENSORED]r Songs 🎧 EDM Gaming Music Mix Signer: - Release Date: 11/17/2022 Official Youtube Link: Informations About The Signer: - Your Opinion About The Track (Music Video): 10/9

Live Performance Title: ® SASA KOVACEVIC - Ceo Koncert - Live (Dan Zaljubljenih) NOVO! © 2022 Signer Name: SASA KOVACEVIC Live Performance Location: Serbia/beograd Official YouTube Link: Your Opinion About the Track (Music Video): 10/10

Nick Movie: Aashiqui 2 Time: April 26, 2013 Netflix / Amazon / HBO?: ? Duration of the movie: 2h 12m Trailer:

Nickname: @BirSaNN Video author: Throneful Name of the game: Batman: Arkham Knight Link video: Rate this video 1-10: 10/10

Assassin's Creed Mirage has been officially unveiled Assassin's Creed Mirage has been confirmed as the next Assassin's Creed game. It takes the series to Baghdad, and seems to be a more traditional take than recent entries. What we know is that Mirage looks to be a decidedly different experience, focusing own smaller-scale stealth and exploration. Starring Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Basim Ibn Ishaq, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage will take us to Baghdad, 20 years before the events of Valhalla, and will take the decades-spanning series back to its roots. This means a more self-contained play area, and a renewed focus on assassinations and stealth mechanics. From what we've seen, it looks to have more in common with the very first game than any released in the last few years. This is, of course, music to the ears of some Assassin's Creed fans, many of which who've felt the series straying further and further from the core mechanics that initially defined the series. Whether it sticks the landing remains to be seen, but things do sound promising so far. To help keep you in the loop with all things Assassin's Creed Mirage, you'll find all of the latest news and rumors right here on this page. Here's what you need to know. Assassin's Creed Mirage is coming in 2023, though we don't have a specific release date just yet. Ubisoft confirmed the game's existence and release window following a ton of leaks around the upcoming title. In terms of platforms, Ubisoft has confirmed that Mirage will be a cross-generation release. As such, expect to see it on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC, and cloud streaming service Amazon Luna. There's unfortunately no free upgrade between generations, but it's also cheaper than recent big releases, launching for $49.99 / £39.99 RRP. We may see a Nintendo Switch release, given Assassin's Creed Odyssey came to the handheld hybrid via cloud streaming. It's worth noting that was limited to the Japanese market, so we can't say for certain one way or the other. Link: https://www.techradar.com/news/assassins-creed-mirage-everything-we-know-so-far

During a roundtable discussion from Wild Rift’s developers on the latest patch, we learned about the champions added, new items, skins released, history, diversity, and more. League of Legends: Wild Rift was released in October 2020 and has already amassed more than 20 million average monthly players. Wild Rift takes many favorites from League of Legends proper such as Ahri, Senna, Lucian, Vi, Jinx, and Caitlyn to name a few, and lets players use them in mobile team matches. If you're unfamiliar, Wild Rift works from the core League of Legends as a pivotal foundation but employs mechanics, game length, and even character choices differently from the PC game. The characters, however, do stay true to their PC counterparts mechanically and aesthetically. Wild Rift matches are about 15 minutes long in comparison to League of Legends' typical 45 minutes. Wild Rift is basically an expedited version of playing League of Legends on your phone, but flourishes in its own right, grabbing players from all over with the ease of playing with mobile. GameSpot recently sat in on a roundtable discussion of Wild Rift’s newest patch, 3.14: Power Spike. This patch adds new items, characters, and balance changes to the Wild Rift roster and it's available now. If you want to check out exact balance changes, and specific stats buffs/nerfs to characters, you can check out the Champion Changes for Wild Rift 3.4 that goes into detail on all of your number needs. You can go here for the patch notes but below you can learn about what's new and on the horizon for Wild Rift from the developers directly. New Champions The additions to Wild Rift’s roster will be added over time with patch 3.14: Power Spike. Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress, and Yone the Forgotten made their debut in Wild Rift on September 15 and September 22 respectively. “2022 is going to have a lot of edgelords,” David Xu, product manager on Wild Rift, quipped about the upcoming character releases of Gwen, Yone, Vex, and Warwick. Gwen brings her fabled Hallowed Mist with her iconic scissors in hand and is able to burst down enemies. Yone brings his dual swords, and his spirited mechanics of slashing enemies with elegance, grace, and swift death. “2022 is very much going to be focused on bringing some of what we believe are some of our heavy hitters--the heavily requested Champions,” Xu said. “In 2023, this is when we'll start to bring in some more niche Champions. Champions that are more filling specific thematics or specific gameplay [mechanics] that we’re looking for. Expect to see some of the other treasure trove of Champions from League of Legends PC in subsequent milestones.” Gameplay Changes Outside of the Power Spike update, Wild Rift also received its first considerable map update with Elemental Rift. “We made huge changes to the objective system as well as the map changing throughout the game.” Wild Rift itself has different issues and priorities to tackle in contrast with League of Legends PC such as the pinging system. There is less functionality on a mobile platform to be communicative with teammates in relation to League of Legends on PC, the developers said. "For Wild Rift, oftentimes, there are unique challenges and differences for our game that are specific for Wild Rift compared to League. We really wanted to tune [the] Elemental Rift to help players get better agency over their games, and feel better overall when it comes to pacing and how much game stress there was,” Adnan Mirza, gameplay producer for Wild Rift, said. One example offered by Mirza is that communication is generally more difficult between players on mobile devices as the audience doesn't really like to speak or use headsets. Sometimes this means changing things that are working in League of Legends to fit better on mobile. “Whenever [players] would see any content, even if it’s from League PC, we’re always thinking about how it would best fit Wild Rift. [For example], we've tuned out some of the complexities in the game and some of the decision points because that was causing a lot of fatigue for our players.” In-game communication in team-based games can be arduous on a mobile platform, but this Wild Rift update will have new ping system options. These new options do not replace the default ones, but are extra preferences. “Improving communication’s going to always be a big [aspect] for us,” Mirza said. New Items Similar to League of Legends PC, Wild Rift's latest update will also add additional items to the game. New item releases can aid in providing improved benefits to players that previous items could not contend with. Sometimes specific roles need to be given more options of items to equip, so they can be in a better state for the match or the game on the whole. “We wanted to make the gameplay experience better for supports. We made a lot of balance changes in those spaces to add new Enchants, tune some parts of the game, and now add support items. The supports now have a better ability to control their own experience, and have more agency, Mirza said.” Player feedback is always given to developers for MOBAs such as Wild Rift, and the team at Riot wants to take into account the feedback or qualms players may find themselves in while playing Wild Rift. “We’ve been seeing [increased] success with either player feedback [and] the other different metrics we have,” Mirza stated. A prime example is feedback from players having a tougher time using supports in-game in compared to other roles. The developers would like to bring future Wild Rift content that is not solely from, or has prior foundational elements, from League of Legends PC. Skins Skins have been a mainstay with League of Legends PC for years. They are meticulously, extravagantly, and wonderfully crafted themes or aesthetic modifications for already-released Champions. Some of the skins released in the Power Spike update are Space Groove Gwen, Crystal Rose Yone, Bewitching Vex, and Superhero Jayce. “We still want to keep releasing fan-favorite skins from PC that people really liked, and making sure that players of Wild Rift have the opportunity to choose something that really resonates with them or speaks to them in a particular way,” Jared Berbach, the game director for Wild Rift, said. Like the other developers of Wild Rift have stated, Berbach is also looking forward to future releases in 2023, “Our story is really about, how can we make things that feel more uniquely Wild Rift and are potentially even exclusive to Wild Rift? Just kind of a treat for our player base that we want them to enjoy.” Berbach said, “We have a lot of players that choose to stick with us [exclusively] on Wild Rift, and we want to reward that investment with our time with really cool, new thematics they can enjoy.” History and Diversity League of Legends, and Wild Rift in particular, are played by players from all over, with many different groups of color, marginalized identities, and ethnoreligious backgrounds. In the past, Riot Games has had explicit problems in its release of characters, where there is a prevalent whitewashing of ethnicities from characters of color such as Lucian. The company has even had white characters receive very Orientalist aesthetics, tropes, or skins over the years with Lunar reveals, for example. When asked, if they induce more forethought, when creating skins for Wild Rift, Berbach said, “We know that to reach global audiences, we need to be able to represent all of those underrepresented groups.” Riot has established RIGs (Rioter Inclusion Groups) with the idea of bringing together groups of people to represent people of underrepresented identities. "They are always part of a process that we use in [the] creation of Champs and skins. For example, when we created Lucian, we had a very extensive process between the game team and that RIG to specifically support them, their thoughts about how we could authentically bring that character in, and avoid a lot of the tropes that [Veerender Singh Jubbal] is describing,” Berbach said. Mirza chimed in from a personal standpoint, “I worked on a lot of the gameplay and have less direct involvement with the art, but I do see the conversations and the feedback. I am also South Asian, and know that colorism occurs, sometimes, and am reminded of pretty prominent marketing slogans in Urdu like ‘Ab gora ho gaa’. They will be light-skinned or fair-skinned now. Something I am pretty well aware of, and from my perspective it’s never felt really intentional at all from [Riot Games]." When moving across mediums within a company, concerns or problems can arise solely from the switch of different teams or developers in the creation process. An immense amount of creative effort goes into the concept art of a character all throughout until it is playable to the public. Errors such as authenticity may not be translated completely into the entire process. “Sometimes I think there’s been a loss from a translation aspect when you go from one medium to another either in-game or 2D art. Sometimes these things don’t quite line up, but the team tries very hard to get ahead of these [aspects], and when you mess up--you try really hard to fix it." Mirza said. "I do have the sense of sensitivity from my sense because of the culture I am from. We never claim to be perfect, but we try really hard and try to listen to feedback [to] make changes when these different arts don’t quite line up with what they are supposed to be.” link" https://www.gamespot.com/articles/riot-discusses-its-diversity-efforts-for-wild-rift-and-the-power-spike-update/1100-6507800/

MPs have been warned they are being targeted by "hostile states", with their mobile phones "a potential goldmine" of sensitive information. In a letter to MPs, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle urged MPs to avoid using their phone for sensitive conversations or even having it in the same room. "If hackers have switched on the microphone on one phone everyone in the room might be overheard," he wrote. The government is creating a taskforce to defend the UK from hostile actors. Last month reports emerged that former prime minister Liz Truss's phone was hacked while she was foreign secretary The Mail on Sunday reported that private messages between Ms Truss and foreign officials, including about the Ukraine war, fell into foreign hands. Liz Truss phone hack claim prompts calls for probe Gmail 'safer than parliament's email system' In relation to the letter, which was first reported by HuffPost UK, Sir Lindsay's office said it did not discuss security matters. However, it was shared with the BBC by an MP who received it. In it, Sir Lindsay said: "As recent events have highlighted, hostile states continue to target Parliamentarians to gain insight into, or exert influence over, our democratic processes for their economic, military or political advantage." He warned no mobile phone could be made completely secure, but he shared advice from the government's National Cyber Security Centre to minimise the risk of a phone being compromised. The advice includes limiting the length of time messages are saved on a device and limiting access to microphones and location services. One MP told the BBC the warning was necessary because "we are hopelessly slack" about information security. Another described the advice as "perfect common sense", adding: "I'm sure we are constantly being surveilled by state actors." The letter comes after an the government announced earlier this month that it was creating a special taskforce to defend the UK's "democratic integrity" in the face of threats from hostile actors. Security minister Tom Tugendhat said the taskforce would look at issues ranging from physical threats to MPs, to cyber-security. The government's National Security Bill, which contains measures designed to tackle threats such as spying, economic espionage, foreign interference and sabotage, is currently going through Parliament. The bill seeks to make it an offence to interfere with the UK's democracy and civil society through disinformation or by attacking its electoral processes. A new Foreign Influence Registration scheme will seek to compel anyone acting for a foreign power or organisation to declare any political influencing activity that they are carrying out. link" https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-63654863

Octopuses are ocean creatures that are most famous for having eight arms and bulbous heads. Some other fun facts: They have three hearts and blue blood; they squirt ink to deter predators; and being boneless, they can squeeze into (or out of) tight spaces. They are quite intelligent and have been observed using tools. And sadly, for them, sex is a death sentence. Description The order Octopoda includes 289 species, according to the World Animal Foundation. The word also refers specifically to animals in the genus Octopus. The word octopus comes from the Greek, októpus, which means "eight foot," according to a Smithsonian magazine article that summarized facts in Katherine Harmon Courage's book, "Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea(opens in new tab)." Some people call their appendages tentacles, but that is incorrect; they are arms. Most octopus species have suction cups on the bottom of each arm. The arms seem to have a mind of their own. In fact, two-thirds of an octopus' neurons are in its arms rather than its head, according to the article. That means that an octopus can focus on exploring a cave for food with one arm while another arm tries to crack open a shellfish. Some octopuses even have warts. Two deep-sea octopuses in the Graneledone genus — G. pacifica and G. verrucosa — have skin bumps dotting their pink-hued mantles. These warty protrusions, it turns out, can be used to distinguish the two species, which have been incredibly difficult to tell apart. Scientists reporting June 7, 2017 in the journal Marine Biology Research catalogued the distribution of warts on both species, pinpointing two variables that were consistent across the individuals within a given species: distance between the warts and the tip of the mantle and the extent to which the skin bumps spread down the creature's arms. Octopuses have an excellent sense of touch, according to the World Animal Foundation. Their suckers have receptors that enable an octopus to taste what it is touching. Most octopuses — those in the suborder Incirrata (or Incirrina) — have no internal skeletons or protective shells. Their bodies are soft, enabling them to squeeze into small cracks and crevices, according to National Geographic(opens in new tab). In April 2016, an octopus at the National Aquarium of New Zealand squeezed out of its tank and made an eight-armed dash for a drainpipe that — luckily for him — led directly to the sea. A bulbous sack-like body, or mantle, is perched on top of an octopus' head. The only hard part of their bodies is a sharp, parrot-like beak that is on the underside, where the arms converge. Octopuses have powerful jaws and venomous saliva, according to National Geographic. Octopuses weren't always squishy creatures. The ancestors of octopuses and squid sported hard shells. A study published online March 1, 2017 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences revealed these marine animals lost their hard "mobile homes" in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. This shell loss likely helped the ancient relatives of today's octopus, squid and cuttlefish become more agile to evade predators and nab prey, the researchers said. link: https://www.livescience.com/55478-octopus-facts.html

The package improves off-road capability for the baby Bronco via steel bash plates and all-terrain tires. The 2023 Ford Bronco Sport is getting a new off-road-oriented package known as the Black Diamond package. Available for $1295, the package is available for Big Bend and Outer Banks trims, and it increases the Bronco Sports chops as an off-roader by adding steel bash plates for added underbody protection. Ford is also expanding the Bronco Off-Roadeo experience to include all 2023 Bronco Sport order holders. Ford is now offering a happy medium for buyers who are interested in taking their Bronco Sport off-road but don't want to spring for the robustly equipped Badlands edition. For $1295, the Bronco Sport Black Diamond package bridges the gap by giving customers a slew of new graphics, and more importantly, adds protection for the Bronco Sport's vitals. Four steel skid plates bring added protection to the underbody, including the fuel tank, as well as a front skid plate to protect the car from particularly angular rocks. New 17-inch wheels are wrapped in a set of 225/65R17 all-terrain tires. As a bonus, the package comes with graphics on the hood, lower body, and doors. The new package is limited to the Big Bend and Outer Banks trim levels, but the well-equipped Badlands wouldn't really benefit as it already receives AT tires and skid plates to protect the powertrain and fuel tank. Ford also announced that it would be expanding the Bronco Off-Roadeo program for buyers of 2023 Bronco Sports. The program is available at four locations around the country and teaches new owners about the capabilities and perhaps more important, the limits of their vehicles. According to Ford, 90 percent of Bronco Sport customers who attend the Off-Roadeo program are likely to go off-roading again, while 97 percent feel more confident about off-roading.

I thought I was going for a routine therapy session. But Wendell had other ideas In July 2007, I visited a shaman by accident. My wife had an appointment with a therapist called Wendell and, unable to attend, she offered it to me. As I ascended the stairs in Notting Hill, I mused on the fact that I had once worked as a film editor at a company on Wendell Road in Shepherd’s Bush. I hadn’t thought about that job for years; it was before I became a father, a comedy writer, a musician and a voice artist – and developed the calm exterior that belied my turbulent, contradictory internal state. It had been 22 years but being cast back to that time made me shudder, as though a wave was passing through me. As I stopped on the landing, the door opened. Wendell, an African-Caribbean man of about 40, stared at me in a way I didn’t expect from a welcoming therapist. He tilted his head to one side as if to say: “What’s the story?” “Hello,” I ventured. “Sarah couldn’t come but thought it would be OK if I did …” Wendell kept staring. He seemed wary and on edge. “Why?” It was a good question. Before I had a chance to answer, or even think of one, Wendell said: “There are two of you. There are two of you here.” My instinctive reaction was to do a comedy double-take over my shoulder, but I didn’t. Something in Wendell’s demeanour was marrying with my odd thoughts and memories on the way up the stairs. And what he was saying made sense. In retrospect, what I think was happening as I climbed the stairs was that the homunculus inside me, realising it was close to a presence that threatened its existence – Wendell – was awakening. I realise that makes me sound, well … unsound – but I have had a long time to think about this. Anyway, Wendell beckoned me into his room and asked me to tell him what was on my mind. So I told him everything about being abused when I was a child – or rather, gave him a 20-minute precis. “He’s here, he’s here with you,” said Wendell, with absolute certitude. I experienced an intense sensation of anxiety, as if someone had released a bag of chaffinches into a hitherto unknown cavity inside my chest. Wendell calmly explained that as well as being a therapist, he was also a shaman. Did I know what a shaman was? I said I thought so. Wendell explained further that he could perform an exorcism and rid me of the presence he had detected inside me. There was a flat, padded platform in the centre of the room, a bit like a massage table, and Wendell suggested I lie on it. He asked me to trust him and said not to be scared by anything I might see or hear. I had seen a couple of therapists and the odd counsellor in the past for a session or two, long enough to con them (or at least con-vince them) that I was fine. This felt nothing like that. There was no tinkling water feature, meditative music or whale-song. This was just a very simple, third-floor room in west London, through the windows of which I could see the branches of leafy plane trees and hear the sound of passing buses. Wendell asked me to tell him more about my abuser. None of it came out in order. Rather, there was a series of unconnected sentences. It felt as if the information was being proffered by a presence inside me, hoping each nugget would satisfy Wendell’s curiosity. I felt powerless over what was being said, but the longer the litany went on, the more I felt a swelling in my chest. And then I began to cry. And cry. And cry. Hot streams of tears flooded over my cheeks and round my neck. I was silent but shaking, as the massive swelling in my torso seemed to pump tears endlessly. “Pffffffftttttt.” Wendell spat a dry, sharp noise from pursed lips, like the sound of an arrow flying then hitting a target. There was a rattle from a gourd filled with seeds. Wendell moved around the table and my sobbing form, his legs bent at the knee, almost prancing. He shook around me like the wind, like a kite on the wind, like a shutter clattering – all the time flitting around me, the bed, the room. I cried harder and harder, the swelling now felt as if it wanted me to eject it and all the time the “Pffffffftttttt”, the shaking of the seeds, the concentrated, forensic attention as Wendell did battle. Advertisement Suddenly, my chest seemed to be opening, accompanied by a roaring sound like a plane taking off. I felt an endless column of light rushing and roaring upwards from me – upwards, upwards, pulling me, yet all the time I felt Wendell ensuring I stayed. He was flying about me, his actions, sounds and will all furiously co-ordinated as the column of light gained infinite height. The roaring intensified, the light poured out of me, burning everything to white. Silence. “He’s gone now.” Wendell was sitting on a chair close by. I was shaking with the aftershocks of so much crying, shuddering like a toddler. Something fundamental had shifted within me. Although it would be years before I was able to understand the occurrences and consequences of my abuse, this was the beginning of the process. I can’t be sure of what actually took place in that room. I can only say how it felt. It was painful and raw, like a clumsy initial rooting around to extract shrapnel, but it was a necessary start. Even if it had happened by accident. link: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/nov/16/a-moment-that-changed-me-i-visited-a-therapist-who-offered-me-an-exorcism